Reading and discussing the best in Latin@ literature at the Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL

Revealing the insecurities of a young immigrant girl, this memoir unfolds in America. With a mother who never stops crying about the “Argentina Family” and a father employed with an international airline, Mirta’s life is divided between her adopted country and her native land. Dramas abound with a long-distance relationship in the aftermath of Argentina’s “Dirty War,” a frightening interrogation with the Argentine police and an astonishing encounter at the American consulate. In this autobiographical story, a girl comes to terms with her Jewish heritage, her Argentine traditions and her fierce American patriotism.

Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Mirta Ines Trupp’s With Love, the Argentina Family(available in English only) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!

Traversing the lonely border territory between Mexico and the United States is Makina, a young woman who has learned to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her brother, she is smuggled into the US carrying a pair of secret messages—one from her mother and one from the Mexican underworld.

Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the World(Spanish: Señales que precederán al fin del mundo) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!

Leonardo Padura brings a noir sensibility to a fascinating and complex political narrative: the 1940 assassination of Leon Trotsky in Mexico. The story revolves around Iván Cárdenas Maturell, once the great hope of modern Cuban literature–until he wrote a story deemed counterrevolutionary. Years later, he’s a humbled and defeated man living a quiet, unremarkable life. One afternoon, he meets a mysterious foreigner in the company of two Russian wolfhounds. As the pair grow closer, Iván begins to understand that his new friend is hiding a terrible secret…

The group will meet Wednesday, February 8, 7-8:00 pm, 3rd Floor, Seminar Room, Main Library. Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Leonardo Padura’s The Man Who Loved Dogs(Spanish: El hombre que amaba a los perros) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!

In this psychological novel of obsessive love, artist Juan Pablo Castel recounts from his prison cell the story of María Iribarne. Obsessed from the moment he sees her examining one of his paintings, he fantasizes for months about how they might meet again. When he happens upon her one day, a relationship develops that convinces him of their mutual love. But his growing paranoia leads him to destroy the one thing he cares about.

The group will meet Wednesday, January 11, 7-8:00 pm, 3rd Floor, Seminar Room, Main Library. Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Ernesto Sábato’s The Tunnel(Spanish: El túnel) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!

Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

The group will meet Wednesday, December 14, 7-8:00 pm, 3rd Floor, Seminar Room, Main Library. Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist(Spanish: El Alquimista) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!

Each night, Julián , a young professor of literature, has improvised a story about trees for his stepdaughter, Daniela. But tonight something is different: as Julián becomes increasingly concerned that his wife won’t return from her art class, he imagines what Daniela—at 20, at 30 years old, without a mother—will think of his novel about a man tending to his bonsai.

Note: Participants may also read Zambra’s short novel Bonsáiwhich is included in the Spanish edition of The Private Lives of Trees. The English edition of Bonsaiwill be available only on a limited basis. (Bonsái was also made into a film.)

The group will meet Wednesday, November 9, 7-8:00 pm, 3rd Floor, Seminar Room, Main Library. Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Alejandro Zambra’s The Private Lives of Trees (Spanish: La vida privada de los arboles) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!

From a psychoanalyst’s couch, the narrator looks back on her bizarre childhood. She was born with an abnormality and her family is intent on fixing it. In a world without the time and space for innocence, she intimately recalls her younger self—a fierce and discerning girl open to life’s pleasures and keen to its ruthless cycle of tragedy. With raw language and a brilliant sense of humor, Nettel strings together hard-won, unwieldy memories—taking us from Mexico City to France, and back again—to create a portrait of the artist as a young girl.

The group will meet Wednesday, October 12, 7-8:00 pm, 3rd Floor, Seminar Room, Main Library. Attendees have the option to read in English and/or Spanish. Discussions may also be in English and Spanish. Attendees do not have to be bilingual. Copies of Guadalupe Nettel’s The Body Where I was Born (Spanish: El cuerpo en que nací) will be held at the 2nd floor Readers Services Desk one month before the discussion. Call to register at (847) 448-8620!